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Tag Archives: Weekend Slate

What a weekend queue’d up. After this weekend, we should know our College Championships field and a lot more about who is likely to be in the mix at the end of the Pro seasons.

MLU

DC Current (0-2) @ PHI Spinners (2-0)

BOS Whitecaps (2-0) @ NY Rumble (0-2)

SEA Rainmakers (2-0) @ SF Dogfish (2-0)

POR Stags (0-3) @ VAN Nighthawks (1-2)

The Current and Rumble will both look to keep the East from being a two man race. Neither has looked out of their depth this year and a few adjustments or breaks their way could be all they need. In the West, Seattle and SF, both missing key roster players, square off in a game that will decide the West’s lead all the same. The Stags are in dire straits and need to get one in the win column.

AUDL

MAD Radicals (2-1) @ MIN Wind Chill (1-2) (Friday)

DET Mechanix (2-1) @ MIN Wind Chill (1-2)

NY Empire (1-1) @ DC Breeze (1-1)

TOR Rush (4-0) @ NJ Hammerheads (1-1)

WC Wildfire (3-1) @ IND Alleycats (1-2)

PHI Phoenix (1-1) @ DC Breeze (1-1) (Sunday)

DET Mechanix (2-1) @ CIN Revolution (1-3) (Sunday)

ROC Dragons (0-4) @ NJ Hammerheads (1-1) (Sunday)

The East division of the AUDL could see some separation after this weekend. Currently, only the Rush and Dragons have differentiated themselves (by record). The Phoenix and Empire can compare themselves against the Breeze. In the West, Detroit has a big weekend on tap, and coming away with a win in their two games would be pretty big. The Wind Chill are in a similar situation.

USAU College Series

Women’s

Check out FFH’s full Regional previews for all the good stuff!

New England Regionals is Tufts’s to lose, but they have a second bid… and therein lies the rub. Northeastern and Dartmouth look like the top candidates to make their way to Madison. Rebecca Ginsburg and Shelby Parton will need to be playmakers for Northeastern and Dartmouth will be hoping a travel-heavy schedule to see strong competition will pay off when it counts. I’m curious if Tufts can match Ohio State’s dominance. Apologies for not getting a full preview up in time!

A crazy five bids will be won in Cedar Falls, IA at North Central Regionals, but they have five very strong teams at the top. What order they fall in will be curious. Should Iowa, Carleton, or Iowa State win, they could be in line for a #1 seed at the College Championships. Expect a slugfest.

Northwest Regionals will field a strong group of teams aiming at four bids. Oregon and British Columbia are the top two, but returning National Champ Washington and upstart Victoria don’t want to be left out. Another “how will they finish?” case for the weekend.

A brutal 7 team round robin format is in play at Southeast Regionals after their postponement cost them three teams. With two bids up in the air and a hungry trio of teams, plus some darkhorse candidates, added to roster and possible weather variability, there is bound to be some drama in Tupelo, MS.

The mighty Southwest Region is a bit bid-strapped this year, with Southwest Regionals only sending two teams to the big show. Santa Barbara is a favorite, but after that, it could get messy. A wide range of teams will be scratching and clawing to make their impact in a Region that typically has high expectations across the board.

Open

New England Regionals features three top contenders battling for a pair of spots, and interesting storylines throughout. Dartmouth is undefeated against regional opponents, which could prove their trump card, but Tufts and Harvard have been stronger against out of region competition. A few dark horse teams have what it takes to upset someone. I may be biased, but I’m calling Harvard to take one of the bids.

After being relocated for snow, North Central Regionals plans to settle who will take the three bids to the Championships. It looks pretty clear cut that Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Carleton will be at the top, but we don’t know in what order. Can Luther or Northern Iowa play spoiler? It’ll be an uphill battle and word is that conditions are pretty…well, North Central-y.

Southeast Regionals is suffering from their postponement, ending up with an odd 13-team tournament and three bids up for grabs. Who knows what impact it’ll have on teams’ rosters. Mainly, it looks like six teams are in the mix, with UCF, FSU, and UF being the teams to beat.

There was a lot of drama about the two-bid Southwest Regionals‘ seeding, but once they are on the field, it doesn’t matter anymore. Arizona is the trendy pick, despite being the 5th seed, but can SDSU validate their twitter whining? Can LPC validate their #2 seed? Is Stanford back? Questions abound, answers incoming.

Women’s: After weather postponed them, these teams are chomping at the bit. Six spots are up for grabs among the eight teams. UNC-W Seaweed and North Carolina Pleaides will battle for the top spot, but the excitement will come from behind them. Clemson, South Carolina, Appalachian State, and Duke could fall into most any combination.

Metro East

Western New York

Open: #1 seed Cornell, the team that just won’t go away, will once again have to defend their honor against opponents targeting them. #2 seed SUNY-Buffalo is their top challenger, but Cornell won their NEO matchup 13-7. With five bids for these eight teams, there might not be any pressure here, though.

Women’s: #1 seed Ottawa is a heavy favorite, and probably the favorite in the Region, to take one of the six bids available. Cornell and Rochester have solid results, but how about mysterious Syracuse? They’ve played one tournament, where a total of two points were scored against them, although they forfeited a game. Could they make noise?

New England

Greater New England

Women’s: The potential excitement of this one is diminished by the eight team/eight bids love-fest. Seeing how Dartmouth and Vermont stack up is interesting: Dartmouth has played higher level competition but Vermont has seen more Ws; their only common opponent is Texas, who beat Princess Layout 12-11 and Vermont 13-5. Don’t sleep on Brown.

Hudson Valley

Open: Connecticut has made themselves the favorite in this three bid Conference of five teams. Don’t be surprised to see #3 seed Yale perform well. They have some solid wins this season so far.

Northwest

Big Sky

Women’s: There are only three teams here, but a single bid up for grabs. BYU has a 13-7 win over Irvine while Utah lost to that some Irvine squad. Utah lost to PLU by less than Montana did. Otherwise, we don’t know much. One day tournament. Let the drama begin.

Cascadia

Open: Nine teams will vie for five bids in what could be interesting. #1 seed Oregon shouldn’t have trouble, though #2 seed Oregon State took them to double game earlier this year. Oregon State isn’t in the clear, as they lost to #3 seed Victoria earlier this season. It has been a long time since Victoria had seen competitive play, so that may affect their game. #4 seed Washington has had a tough year where they have yet to meet expectations, and #5 seed Western Washington and #6 seed British Columbia are capable squads.

Pacific Coast

Women’s: Last year’s two Championship Finalists, plus two of USAU’s top 10 ranked teams, begin their journey to the Championships. There are five bids for the eight teams here, so only #4 seed Victoria – who some are a bit skeptical of, after great early season results and a quiet second half bolstered their rankings – is really at risk here. Victoria had no trouble with #6 seed Oregon State last time they played (11-2 W), but I expect #5 seed Western Washington to be much improved. Not sure how hard the top three (#1 seed Oregon, #2 seed UBC, and #3 seed Washington) will even go at one another.

Ohio Valley

East Penn

Open: With four bids, #1 seed Penn is a clear favorite, having won their past two tournaments. #2 seed Millersville fell to Penn 11-15 in their last matchup at Millersville’s home tournament Final. They’ll be out for some revenge.

South Central

Rocky Mountain

Women’s: An interesting setup in Boulder, where four teams go straight into a bracket with a backdoor to compete for three bids. It seems really unlikely that anybody besides Colorado-B will be left at home.

Southwest

Desert

Women’s: Out in the Desert (that sounds so epic), just a single bid is at stake for four teams. #1 seed Arizona State is the favorite, with a better record than #2 seed Arizona, and some extra wins vs. common opponents (UCLA, UC-Santa Cruz). #3 seed Northern Arizona holds a head to head win over #4 seed New Mexico.